Creative Ramblings

As most of you know by now, I am a journalist and reviewer. And you may also know that I am very active on my Facebook Fan Page.

The other day, I had this interesting conversation with a fellow journalist who is also very active on Facebook. I consider him quite influential.

We are thousands of kilometres away from each other. Actually, we live on two different continents. So, the focus of our conversation was on our personal experiences with the social network and how successfully we had managed to reach readers there.

We came to the same conclusion at exactly the same time: Facebook is not the best platform for journalists — and many other professionals.

Why is Facebook not for everyone? As I keep explaining to people who refuse to harness the power of Twitter or Google+, Facebook was not created to help businesses get customers. It was created to allow people to find long-lost friends, make new ones, keep in touch with family, and share stuff that they like. In a nutshell, Facebook is a community for people who want to be entertained, not bothered by ads and companies.

Will Russell, of the Social-Cycle blog, says it better than me. So I will quote part of an article he wrote in 2011:

“Facebook is a tool that can do wonders for your business, but only if you are talking to consumers that want to listen and are interested in what you have to say. If you are a small business wanting to reach out to other businesses, then I strongly believe that Facebook is not the way forward – people log on to Facebook with a personal mindset, not a business one. [...] I’m not saying that this hypothetical software company can’t build a Facebook community – sure they can. With the right approach anyone can build a Facebook page and acquire thousands of fans. But how many of those fans will be interested in buying the software? How many of those fans will be high-level enough to even make that purchasing decision? Probably none.”

I am not saying that you cannot be successful on Facebook. Actually, I know quite a few businesses and entrepreneurs that have enjoyed a good deal of success using the social network. However, I strongly believe that what works for these businesses may not work for you. And your field also plays a major role.

When it comes to social networks, never believe the hype. Give each platform a good try before deciding which one(s) are the best for your business. And always remember that one size does not fit all.